Hinge tests unanswered message limit to 'reduce burnout'

Off the heels of Hinge's new Hidden Words feature, the dating app is testing another: Your Turn Limits.

The feature will limit the number of unanswered messages users have in their queue. Those with eight or more matches waiting for them to respond won't be able to match with anyone new until they answer one or more of those messages — or end the conversation (presumably, unmatch). Hinge will test Your Turn Limits in the U.S., UK, Canada, and Australia starting this month, with the goal to roll it out to other markets based on user feedback. This will impact both free and paid users.

When users are approaching the limit, they'll see a banner on top of their messages stating they're "approaching the limit."

"When 8 or more people are waiting for a reply, you need to reply or end chats," the banner continues. "Then you can send likes."

Hinge's 'You're approaching the limit' banner on top of chats. Credit: Hinge

Once you reach the Turn Limit, you must message someone back or unmatch to start liking new people. The banner atop chats reads, "You're at the limit," with the same explanation about eight matches.

If you attempt to like someone new, you'll receive a pop-up that states, "Too many people are waiting for your reply."

Hinge's Turn Limits banner and pop-up. Credit: Hinge

In a recent Hinge study, its researchers found that 44 percent of daters cite a lack of responsiveness as a top dating challenge. Internal data also found that matches where the first message was responded to within 24 hours were 72 percent more likely to result in a date.

Your Turn Limits is a continuation of features the app has created to engender conversation — like "Your Turn" in 2017, which prompted users to start a conversation with a match and reminded them when it's their turn to reply. Last year, Hinge reorganized match lists so chats where the user needed to reply were at the top. 

In an interview with Mashable, Hinge founder and CEO Justin McLeod said he imagines this feature will go through a couple iterations as it will be a big change for some users. Depending on the result of the test, Hinge will either tweak the feature or continue to roll it out to more markets. 

Your Turn Limits will impact Hinge's entire ecosystem, McLeod continued, as it doesn't just impact those users who have more than eight unanswered matches; it also impacts the users they'll interact with more as a result of the feature. Users who talk to their current matches may stop "liking" more people on the app, so they could end up with fewer matches. But, McLeod said, "I think we'll see more conversations and more dates across a broader part of the population."

Not only does this Hinge test come shortly after the app announced a new feature of its own, but it's also coming after Bumble launched a new suite of features including a revamp of its "women make the first move" signature. Bumble CEO Lidiane Jones cited exhaustion with dating apps as a reason for "Opening Moves," a new feature that lets men message first. According to Hinge’s press release, the goal of Your Turn Limits is to, in part, "reduce dating burnout" and encourage responsiveness.

In Mashable's interview, McLeod echoed the concern for dating app fatigue. "We're keenly aware that a lot of our users are feeling burned out or skeptical of the dating app experience and we're trying to be very responsive to that," he continued, by creating features that (hopefully) get users on more dates.